USA > New York > Monroe County > Landmarks of Monroe County, New York : containing followed by brief historical sketches of the towns of the county with biography and family history > Part 23
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The subject of establishing a permanent hospital in Rochester was much discussed in the medical profession, the city press and among the people more than half a century ago, although it was not until 1847 that definite steps were taken to bring about the desired end, and many more years passed before a hospital building was in fact provided.
The Rochester City Hospital, or as now more commonly known, the City hospital, was incorporated by an act of the legislature, passed May 7, 1847. The first trustees were John B. Elwood. William Pilkin, Isaac Hills, Thomas H. Rochester, Patrick Kearney, Frederick Starr, Ralph Lester, Edward Mott Moore, John Williams, Elijah F. Smith and David R. Barton. For hospital purposes the city transferred to the trustees
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the old " Western cemetery" tract, comprising about three acres and having a large frontage on what is now known as West avenue, but it was not until 1857 that the title was perfected in the trustees, and still another seven years elapsed before the then main building was ready for occupancy. On the 28th of January, 1864, the hospital was dedicated, and on the Ist of February following the first patient was received. During the summer of that year the building was thrown open to the sick and wounded soldiers, and from June 7, 1864, to September, 1865, a total of four hundred and forty-eight disabled volunteers found com- fort within its walls. The east wing was completed in 1865; the west wing in 1871, and the upper portion of the building was made ready for occupancy in 1879. In 1880 the morgue was built; in 1882 the hall pavilion, and still another in 1883, the latter through the efforts of Drs. W. S. Ely, E. V. Stoddard and J. W. Whitbeck, of the then medical staff.
The building has been remodeled and made to conform to advanced practical ideas and is now one of the best appointed and best equipped hospitals in this part of the state. In connection with it is a training school for nurses from which department one hundred and twenty-five trained nurses have been graduated. The affairs of the institution are in the hands of a board of directors and a board of managers. The regular hospital staff comprises seven chief and twelve assistant physi- cians in all departments.
St. Mary's Hospital .- This institution was established September 8, 1857, and was in fact founded by three Sisters from Emmettsburg, Md. Father O'Brien, then of St. Patrick's, purchased for them a lot on West avenue, on which stood two old stone stable buildings. These were fitted and converted into a primitive hospital, and on the 8th of Sep- tember, 1858, were opened for the reception of patients, under the di- rection of Sister Hieronymo. In 1858 about two hundred and fifty patients were treated. The erection of the present large stone building was begun in 1858, and was fully completed in 1865. During the war of 1861-65 about three thousand sick and wounded soldiers were cared for in this institution.
In St. Mary's about two hundred patients are continually under treatment, the care of whom requires the attention of sixteen Sisters of
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Charity directed by superior Sister Marie. Dr. Edward Mott Moore has been at the head of the medical staff of this institution from its founding. There is also a large staff of visiting physicians.
The Rochester Homeopathic Hospital .- As early as 1885 the Homœo- pathic physicians of Rochester and vicinity began to discuss the advisa- bility of establishing a Homœopathic hospital in the city, and the subject was frequently the occasion of much earnest comment at the meetings of the county medical society. The result was that on May 25, 1887, a hospital society was incorporated, and in April, 1889, it purchased a desirable property on Monroe avenue. In September following the in- stitution was opened for patients, and for the succeeding five years was maintained on the same site. However, there soon came a demand for better facilities and larger accommodations, and to meet this demand the Homoeopathic medical society and its friends in the city, all gener- ously contributing for the purpose, united in the construction of what is regarded one of the most complete and convenient hospital buildings in this state ; not the largest, perhaps, but one of the most attractive in all its features. The new building, on Alexander street, with its various annexes and departments, was opened to the public November 21, 1894. In the old building in 1894 nearly seven hundred patients were cared for. Its capacity was sufficient for about fifty persons; the capacity of the new hospital is double that of the old. An important adjunct to the institution is the training school, from which skilled nurses have been graduated.
The Hahnemann Hospital .- As its name indicates, this institution was founded and constructed in conformity with strict Hahnemannian principles, and is the first of its kind to follow uncompromisingly this theory. For this consummation credit is due very largely to the untir- ing efforts of the Rochester Hahnemannian society, before mentioned in this chapter, and to the equally valuable assistance of generous friends. The hospital was opened in 1893, its corporation having purchased the old Selden homestead on Oakland street. This institution also has a training school for nurses. About twenty-five patients may be cared for at one time. The annual expense of the hospital is about $7,000.
THE TOWNS OF MONROE COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
. THE TOWN OF BRIGHTON.
On March 25, 1814, the old town of Smallwood was divided, and out of its territory two other towns were erected, and named respect- ively, Brighton and Pittsford. The former, as originally constituted, contained about sixty-six square miles of land, or its equivalant in acres, 42,240. It was bounded on the north by Lake Ontario, east by Penfield, south by Pittsford (now Henrietta), and west by the Genesee river and the now named towns of Gates and Greece. At that time the town included the village settlement of Rochester, and with its other settled communities and varied interests it was numbered among the more important civil divisions of the region This ascendency it main- tained for several years, and only the reduction of its territory for the purpose of later formations took from it its original prominence in the region. A part of Rochester was taken from Brighton in 1834, Iron- dequoit in 1839, while the enlargement of the city during more recent years have necessitated further curtailments of its territory, taking not only its lands but as well its population and commercial interests.
Topographically, the town may be described as having a gently roll- ing surface with a slight inclination toward the north. The deep valley of Irondequoit Bay is on the eastern border, while the streams generally are small brooks, tributaries of the Genesee and Irondequoit. The soil is a sandy loam in the east and a clay loam toward the river. Near the center extensive gypsum beds formerly existed and were a profitable industry to the town, yet the chief pursuits of the people have been market gardening, farming, and the growing of nursery stock.
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Let us look back briefly into the early years of the century and ob- serve how the town was regarded and described by the writers of that period. The historian of 1820 says : " The soil is good, and being bounded west by Genesee river, from its mouth to above the falls at Rochester, it enjoys extensive privileges for hydraulic works, and is increasing rapidly in population and business. Carthage, where was lately a stupendous bridge over the Genesee river, is in this town, but will probably not soon, if ever, have another such bridge, as there is nothing to make it absolutely necessary. This place seems now to have taken the name of Clyde, as it has Clyde post-office two and one half miles below Rochester. There is a hamlet of buildings, and an immense field of business will soon concentrate a busy and thriving population around the falls of this river and its mouth in the lake."
The present and even preceding generations have witnessed the ful- fillment of the prophecy of the historian of 1820, but it is doubtful if the writer ever contemplated the possibility of a city so grand and progres- sive as that which now stands on the Genesee and largely within the limits of the town of Brighton as once constituted. At that time we learn that the population of Brighton was 1,792, and of its inhabitants 355 were farmers; 115 were mechanics ; 46 were foreigners, not natur- alized. There were then no slaves in the town. but among the people were eight free blacks. The electors numbered 547. Acres of im- proved land, 4.221, and cattle, 1,048; horses, 245 ; sheep, 1,928 ; yards of cloth made in 1821, 8,477 ; three grist mills, 12 saw mills, two oil mills, four carding machines, two fulling mills, one cotton and woolen factory, and five asheries, comprised the other manufacturing industries of the town. Of school districts there were eleven, in which schools were maintained seven months in the year. There were 614 children between the ages of five and fifteen years. Incidentally we may men- tion that within the limits of the town (as afterward created), in 1800 there lived 414 persons, and in 1810 the number had increased to 2,860
Returning to the early history of the region, it is well to state that the original town of Boyle was formed in 1806, and included all that is now Brighton, Pittsford, Perinton, Irondequoit, Penfield and Webster. The name was changed from Boyle to Smallwood in 1812 or '13, and the territory remaining under that designation, after the formation of
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THE TOWN OF BRIGHTON.
Penfield and Perinton, was in 1814 erected into Brighton and Pittsford. As a part of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, Brighton comprised chiefly township 13, in range 7. The original purchasers of this town- ship were General Hyde, Prosper Polley, Enos Stone, Col. Job G lbert and Joseph Chaplin, none of whom, except Enos Stone, it is believed, were ever permanent residents in the town, but of Lenox, Mass.
The first white settler in the town was John Lusk, who came in 1787, spent some time in prospecting, visited among the Indians, then frequent in the region, and then returned to Massachusetts. In 1790, having learned the trade of currier and tanner, he returned to the locality and became a permanent settler. He purchased at the old Irondequoit landing, where he established a tannery, but in 1807 removed to Pitts- ford, and there continued in business until the time of his death in November, 1813.
Pioneer John Lusk was accompanied by his son Stephen, his hired man, named Seely Peet, and also by Orringh Stone, son of Enos Stone, one of the proprietors. Mr. Stone opened a tavern in the new country and for many years occupied a position of importance among the in- habitants. Through the influence of John Lusk and the favorable re- ports concerning the country he carried back to New England, other settlers came in during the same year, and among them can be recalled the names of Erastus Lusk, Enos Stone and his family, Chauncey and Calvin Hyde, Joel Scudder and Timothy Allyn; and about the same time came Samuel Shaffer, Enos Blossom and Oliver Culver, the latter a Vermonter, from the old and historic town of Orwell. Oran Stone came in 1795 and settled east of Brighton village, near Culver's. A year or two later came Judge John Tryon, who took up his abode at the head of the bay ; and here he laid out a village, three square miles in extent, built a log warehouse and made ample preparation for the building up of a considerable village. From his improvements the place became known as "Tryon's Town." Asa Dayton kept public house here as early as 1801, a tannery and a distillery were in operation about the same time, and Tryon's Town at once became a settlement of much note in the new country. Ira West was one of the earliest store- keepers, and Solomon Hatch and Oliver Culver had a saw mill running on Allyn's Creek as early as 1806.
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With all these early industries in full operation it is not surprising that Brighton's territory contained more than 400 inhabitants in 1800, but its growth during the succeeding ten years was still more remark- able, as in 1810 the population had increased to 2,860 within the boundaries of the afterward created town. Oliver Culver was another of the more enterprising pioneers, for in addition to his saw mill he en- gaged in business with Judge Tryon and transported many boat loads of goods from Tryonstown to the infant settlements of the far west. About 1795 or '96 the townspeople sent a company to the east for the pur- pose of driving back here a large number of swine, and while the project was successful, it was attended with many hardships and dangers.
The first extensive merchant of 'the town was Augustus Griswold, who, in 1798, brought from the east five sleigh loads of merchandise, and in partnership with Judge Tryon opened a store. Benjamin Weeks was the second tavern-keeper. He came to the settlement from north of Rochester, and it is said that he declined to pay four dollars per acre for a fifty acre tract of land extending from the Central depot to the aqueduct in Rochester. In preference landlord Weeks set up in business at Irondequoit landing, the latter then being the larger and more promising settlement. A log school was opened here in 1802, taught by Mr. Turner ; and this is said to have been the first school established in the entire town of Boyle. Stephen Lusk is credited with having started the first distillery. though Oliver Culver had an early one near his tavern, west of Brighton village, and. still another north of his residence.
Among the other early settlers in Brighton were Silas Losea. the first blacksmith; Abel Eaton, Bryant Brown, William Davis, Isaac Barnes, Moses Morris, Miles Northrup, Gideon Cobb, Solomon and John Hatch, Ezekiel Morse, Philip Moore, Lyman Goff, James Washburn, Stephen and Alex Chubb and Leonard Stoneburner. Abel Eaton and Miles Morse were both tavern-keepers, engaged in a business at that time more profitable than nearly all other enterprises. In fact Brighton, from first to last, has been noted for the multiplicity of its public houses, and in the early history of the town such conveniences were not only in great demand but a real necessity, for the town was the gate-
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way to the vast Genesee country. During the period of greatest emi- gration westward taverns were frequently less than a mile apart and all were patronized even to overflowing.
It is also claimed for Brighton that the first decked vessel to descend the St. Lawrence was constructed within the town, but at what definite time we know not. However, during the war of 1812-15 the little settlement at the landing was a busy locality and much lake navigation had its beginning here. This was an important provision and ammuni- tion shipping point to supply the garrisons and forts on the western frontier. William Stoneburner was one of the first and most adven- turous persons to engage in this traffic, and although generally success- ful on his voyage, he was at last captured by the British, his craft and cargo taken from him, and he for some time held a prisoner. Mr. Stoneburner was also engaged by the United States officers to transport troops along the lake and proved of much value to the government. After the war Leonard Stoneburner, father to William, built several boats, one of them a twenty ton schooner, and did an extensive lake business for several years.
Among the settlers in the town about the time of or soon after the war may be mentioned the Cory and Dryer families, Francis Charter, Milo Barnes, Erastus Stanley, Barnabas Curtis, Hanford Boughton, Abner Buckland, William Crocker, William Kelly, Abel Follett, Enos and Israel Blossom, Otis Walker, Moses Hall, George Dailey, Roswell and Romanta Hart, Joseph G. Wheeler, and others, all of whom were identified with the early history of the town and worthy of mention among its respected families.
In 1822 the Erie canal was completed through the eastern part of the county, and with this as the principal thoroughfare of travel and transportation through the town all local interests were advanced and enlarged. Oliver Culver then built and put in the canal at Brighton village the first packet boat of the region, and the fourth on the canal. From this time the little hamlet at the landing lost its prestige while Brighton village and its interests were correspondingly increased. In 1840 the Auburn and Rochester railroad was opened for traffic, and in 1853 the Rochester and Syracuse road was likewise put in operation, and with these several acquisitions the advancement and prosperity of
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the town was assured, all local interests were fostered and an era of peace and plenty prevailed on every hand. As evidence of this we need only refer to the census tables and note the various changes in number of inhabitants in the town, and there will be discovered a gradual and general increase with each succeeding census enumeration ; and that, too, regardless of the inroads made upon the original terri- tory of the town caused by the extension of the city limits and the formation of other towns.
As has been stated, in 1800 the number of inhabitants in the town, as afterward formed, was 414. In 1810 the population had increased to 2,860; in 1820 it was 1.972 ; in 1830, 3, 128 ; 1840, 2,376; 1850, 3, 117 ; 1860, 3,138 ; 1870, 4,304; 1880, 3,736; and in 1890, 4,543, the latter the largest population in the history of the town. In ex- planation of the occasional falling off noticeable in the foregoing list, it may be stated that a part of Rochester was taken from this town in 1834, and Irondequoit in 1839. Again, in 1874, an extension of the city limits took further from Brighton a large tract of land on its west side, and as well several hundred inhabitants.
Town Organization .- As has been stated, the old township of Small- wood was divided on March 25, 1814, and its territory organized into two distinct towns, and named Brighton and Pittsford. The first town meeting was held in Brighton in 1814, at which time these officers were elected : Supervisor, Oliver Culver ; town clerk, Nehemiah Hopkins; assessors, Orange Stone, Ezekiel Morse, Solomon Gould ; commission- ers of highways, Sylvester Cowles, John Hatch, Jesse Taintor ; over- seers of the poor, Ezra Rogers, Rufus Messenger; constable, Enos Blossom ; school commissioners, Samuel Spafford, Enos Blossom, David Bush ; pathmasters, Rufus Messenger, William Moore, Philip Moore. Solomon Gould, Orange Stone, Israel Salter, James Schofield, Joseph Caldwell, Robert M. Gordon, John B. Lee.
In this connection it is interesting to note the succession of super- visors and clerks of Brighton, from the organization of the town to the present time, as follows :
Supervisors .- Oliver Culver, 1814-16; Elisha Ely, 1817-18 ; Ezekiel Morse, 1819-24; Elijah B. Strong, 1825-26; Thomas Blossom, 1827 ; Ezekiel Morse, 1828; Samuel G. Andrews, 1829-31; William B.
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THE TOWN OF BRIGHTON.
Alexander, 1832-34 ; David S. Bales, 1835-36; Samuel Beckwith, 1837 ; Oliver Culver, 1838-41 ; Samuel P. Gould, 1842-43 ; Oliver Culver, 1844; Stephen Otis, 1845-47; Lorenzo D. Ely, 1848; Jason Baker, 1849; Elisha Miller. 1850; Benjamin Remington, 1851 ; Abel Dryer, 1852 ; Justus W. Yale, 1853; Seth Weed 2d, 1854; Timothy Waller, 1855; Luther Eaton, 1856; Benjamin Huntington, 1857-58 ; Henry H. Holton, 1859-60; Edwin T. Otis, 1861 ; Lorenzo D. Ely, 1862-64; Samuel P. Gould, 1865; Ira Todd, 1866; Caleb Moore, 1867; Ira Todd, 1868-70; Austin Crittenden, 1871-72; Henry E. Boardman, 1873-74 ; Harrison A. Lyon, 1874, to fill vacancy ; Ira 'Todd, 1875-76; Thomas C. Wilson, 1877-79; David K. Bell, 1880-84; S Hatch Gould, 1885; K. A. Hughson, 1886-87; David K. Bell, 1888 ; K. A. Hughson, 1889; Edwin C. Remington, 1890; William H. Row- erdink, 1891-92 ; A. Emerson Babcock, 1893-96.
Town Clerks .- Nehemiah Hopkins, 1814-15 ; Enos Stone, 1816-20; Anson House, 1821 ; Enos Stone, 1822-24; Thomas Blossom, 1825; William B. Alexander, 1826-30; Harvey Humphrey, 1831 ; Henry L. Achilles, 1832-33 ; William Colby, 1834; Benjamin B. Blossom, 1835; Elisha Miller, 1836; Benjamin B. Blossom, 1837-38 ; John Boardman, 1839-40; John Hagaman, 1841; Benjamin B. Blossom, 1842-43 ; Ebenezer Bowen, 1844-52 ; Henry H. Holton, 1853; Ebenezer Bowen, 1854-56; Benjamin B. Blossom, 1857-59; Ebenezer Bowen, 1860-62 ; Benjamin B. Blossom, 1863-66; Amasa C. Cook, 1867-70; Ezra Rosebrough, 1871-73 : Charles C. Holton, 1874-75 ; Charles Meitzler, 1875-91 ; Daniel F. Sheehan, 1892-95.
Town Officers for 1895 .- Supervisor, A. Emerson Babcock; town clerk, Daniel F. Sheehan ; justices of the peace, Charles P. Barnes, Will- iam H. Rowerdink, Edwin C. Smith, Bion H. Howard; assessors, Ed- ward C. Remington, Daniel E. Rowland, Charles Kelley ; commission - ers of excise, Eugene A. Fowler, Leonard W. Hall, Leavitt K. Fox ; collector, George M. Kellar ; constables, James E. Smith, Joseph B. Schrader, Isaac De Roo, Hiram Shaw, John K. Hallock; overseer of the poor James E. Smith.
The early settlers of Brighton were chiefly famous, who came to the Genesee country to better their condition. Many of them, a majority, perhaps, were New Englanders, Yankees, reared among the hills of the
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East, and who were attracted to the western country through the rep- resentations and inducements held out by the land owners and proprie- tors. None, so far as record and tradition informs, were disappointed, and they found in the new region all that could be desired, and once settled and acclimated, their condition was indeed improved. In addi- tion to farming pursuits old records inform us that mills were numerous in the early days of the town, and in 1820 there were in operation twelve saw mills, two grist mills and fourteen other industries. Fifteen years later, or in 1835, the town contained one grist and seven saw mills, two fulling mills, four carding machines and one woolen factory. To-day the saw mills, fulling mills, carding machines, pot ashes are gone, while the other industries are mostly embraced within that part of the town taken for the city.
As an agricultural town Brighton for many years held a prominent position in the county, but with the growth and enlargement of popu- lation and interests in the city, the farmer of old has found greater re- turns in devoting his lands to various other purposes than strict agri- cultural pursuits As early as 1837 Justus Yale began producing nursery stock for the market, and his example was followed by others, until much of the land of the town was utilized for this product, and between the years of 1850 and 1870 this industry was at its greatest. Having at length passed its profitable period, the lands planted with nursery trees were devoted to market gardening, for which many of the large and fine farms were divided and sold in small parcels. Then again, general agriculture having become unprofitable, milk farms have been established, and with excellent results to the owners. Several large and excellent nurseries are still maintained in Brighton, but the chief occupation of the inhabitants to-day is milk producing and market gardening, the latter having brought into the town a considerable ele- ment of foreign population.
During the War .- In April, 1861, in answer to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, the young men of Brighton were not tardy in their action, for among the three months' men were a number from this town. Still later, and during the long and weary years of the war, the town furnished more than two hundred men for the service, and not a few of them lie buried in southern battlefield cemeteries and graveyards.
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The records also show that Brighton was represented in every branch of the service, infantry, cavalry, artillery. and navy, while several were with commands serving on the frontier. However, this subject is so fully treated in one of the earlier chapters of this work that further men- tion here seems unnecessary.
Villages and Hamlets .- Previous to March 21, 1817, that portion of the then village of Rochesterville lying east of the Genesee, formed a part of Brighton, hence the so called ville was one of the municipalities of this town. At that time and under the name mentioned incorporation was effected. However, it is quite doubtful whether, during the early years of the century, Rochesterville was a place of greater importance to the town than was Tryonstown at the head of Irondequoit bay. As elements of Brighton history, the former was eliminated by operation of legislative enactment, while the latter disappeared through natural causes, and as a village is no longer known to the town.
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